Sevilla - Shakhtar Donetsk: Champion's spirit

Sevilla have the advantage of scoring 2 goals away from home in the first leg. They will be cheered by home fans in this rematch. Combined with their Europa League credentials as champions for the past 2 seasons, Emery's team will likely defeat Shakhtar Donetsk to continue their pursuit of defending the title.

In the first leg, Sevilla drew 2-2 with host Shakhtar Donetsk in a somewhat dominant match. Having 2 goals away from home is a big advantage for coach Unai Emery's team in the second leg at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Because a goalless draw or a 1-1 scoreline is enough for them to reach the final.

Sevilla are the reigning champions of the Europa League. If they beat Shakhtar Donetsk to reach the final and win, they will set a record of winning the tournament for the third time in a row. In short, Sevilla is an "old" team and has a lot of courage in the Europa League. Therefore, it will not be easy for Shakhtar Donetsk to make a surprise in this match, especially when they have to play at Sanchez Pizjuan.

Shakhtar Donetsk are showing signs of slowing down right at the peak of the season. They were held to a draw in 3 of their last 4 matches and drew in all 3 of their last away matches. That unimpressive performance has somewhat dampened their confidence when they visit Sevilla. Because Shakhtar Donetsk have only won 2 times in their last 10 matches against Spanish representatives.

The reason Shakhtar Donetsk has shown signs of slowing down is because of the decline of their defense. Statistics show that in the last 10 matches, the Ukrainian team has failed to keep a clean sheet in 7 matches. This weakness was also clearly shown in the match between them and Sevilla in the first leg, when Shakhtar Donetsk let striker Kevin Gameiro score an equalizer near the end of the match.

With the loose defense, and having to play under the pressure of the "fire pan" Pizjuan, it is not impossible that the team from Ukraine will be punished by Sevilla. It must be emphasized that the home team's attack is playing quite stably. In the last 9 matches, they have only failed to score in 1 match. In particular, striker Gameiro is very "in form", having scored 25 goals this season in all fronts, including 5 goals in the Europa League.

There is even more reason to believe that Sevilla will not be turned into a former champion by Shakhtar Donetsk if we know that, in the last 6 confrontations with Ukrainian teams, they dominated with a record of 4 wins and 2 draws.

NUMBERS

10 If Sevilla or Villarreal win the Europa League this season, it will be the 10th time the Spaniards have won the competition. That would put them ahead of Italy as the most successful team in the competition. Both Italy and Spain have won the Europa League nine times each. Italy have also reached the final six times, but lost, while Spain have done so five times.

INFORMATION

Sevilla:Krohn-Dehli and Tremoulinas are absent due to injury.

Shakhtar Donetsk:Defender Azevedo is absent due to injury.

EXPECTED LINEUP

Sevilla:Soria; Mariano, Rami, Carrico, Escudero; Krychowiak, N'Zonzi; Vitolo, Banega, Reyes; Gameiro.

Shakhtar Donetsk:Pyatov; Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Ismaily; Malyshev, Stepanenko; Marlos, Kovalenko, Taison; Ferreyra.

SPECIAL

Even goals:The last 3 matches between the two teams ended with even goals. Sevilla's last 2 home matches also ended with an even number of goals. This phenomenon also occurred in 5/7 of Shakhtar Donetsk's last matches. So this match is likely to have an even number of goals.

PREDICTION: 2-0

According to bongdaplus